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#Insurtech = @FGraillot and @Minh_Q_Tran at @AXAVentures in Top25 Disruptors according to Vertafore

You don't have to look far to see examples of how the growth of digital technology has disrupted traditional industries in a big way.

From the way you buy and sell insurance, to how you learn about new opportunities to grow your business, these are the investors, thought leaders, and executives driving innovation in the insurance industry today.

 

Florian Graillot

Investor - AXA Strategic Ventures

Florian and his company, AXA Strategic Ventures, are hyper focused on investing money in strategic startups driving innovation in the insurance industry. He is a frequent thought leader and contributor to top publications such as TechCrunch. Recently, he was named the industry's most influential contributor by InsurTech News.

 

Minh Q. Tran

General Partner - AXA Strategic Ventures

Minh is a General Partner at AXA Strategic Ventures, where he employs his expertise to help InsurTech startups grow and reach their potential to ultimately help the industry as a whole thrive and continue to innovate. Credited with coining the term InsurTech, Minh is truly a thought leader and disruptor in the industry, and empowers startups to follow suit.

9 things you didn’t know about the UK’s tech scene | VentureBeat | Entrepreneur | by Gerard Grech, Tech City UK

Image Credit: Pavel Ignatov/Shutterstock

“Where are the UK tech companies that can become the next Google or Facebook?” goes the cry.  Well, I think the UK has plenty of what it takes to grow a tech titan or two, or three.

Britain consistently punches above its weight when it comes to digital innovation and technology. In a recent OECD/McKinsey 2016 report, the UK was ranked top in its digital share of overall GDP (10 percent), beating the USA (8 percent) and Sweden (7 percent).

Meanwhile, PwC has just placed London number one, for the second time, on its bi-annual list of Cities of Opportunity. London’s status as a world financial center, conveniently positioned halfway between Asia and the US, has helped it foster a strong tech innovation community over several years.

Six years ago the UK government decided to get behind its burgeoning tech talent, and the result is one of the most generous tax-relief systems anywhere in the world for starting a business. With supportive regulation, lots of available finance, and politicians keen to bring jobs into their neighborhoods, you can see why tech companies like Deliveroo and Shazam are thriving across the country. Indeed, over 40 percent of all European tech unicorns are based in the UK.

Then there’s culture. The UK’s economic liberalism and cultural variety – engendered over centuries not decades – have played a crucial part in its digital success.

For those considering investing in or starting up a UK-based tech business, here are a few things you should know:

1. The UK is the second biggest destination in the world for VC money, on a per capita basis

Venture capitalists invested a record $3.6 billion in the UK’s tech scene last year, up 70 percent from the year before. The country has consistently attracted more than 30 percent of all European VC funds for several years. On a per capita basis, the UK is the second biggest destination for VC money in the world, after the US, counting all investments made between 2009 and 2015, according to EY.

According to Pitchbook, the VC database, 2015 was the fifth consecutive year of growth for the UK’s tech sector. In fact, tech investment in London in 2015 was almost 20 times what it was in 2010. And in June 2016, the UK was already on track to exceed last year’s funding level yet again.

via venturebeat.com

6 things startups need to know about venture capitalists | VentureBeat | Entrepreneur | by Allan Wille, Klipfolio

Image Credit: Shutterstock

This sponsored post is produced by Klipfolio.

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Every startup needs capital — money it can use to either get off the ground or ramp up growth. Knowing when to seek outside investment from venture capitalists can be a big decision for startups.

Unfortunately, too many startups don’t know enough about how the VC investor system works. Here are six things I think every startup entrepreneur should know about venture capitalists.

1. Understand what a VC is, and how a VC is different from an angel investor

In its early days, if a startup raises any money, it’s from people who know the entrepreneurs personally. These people — friends and family — will be happy to get a return on their investment eventually. But chances are, they are not investing solely to make a profit. The money they provide is what I call “love money.”

Moving up a notch, angels and VCs want a return on their investment.

Angel investors — most often past entrepreneurs themselves —

via venturebeat.com

The Global Fintech Landscape Reaches Over 1000 Companies, $105B In Funding, $867B In Value: Report

More than half of the world’s Fintech companies are headquartered in the U.S. (source: VBProfiles)

Atherton Research got an exclusive sneak peek at VBProfiles’ upcoming Fintech landscape report and it’s huge!

The San Francisco-based market intelligence platform, that tracks innovation, deal flow and news across the technology industry, found over 1,000 Fintech companies (startups and historical incumbents) which raised over $105 billion in total funding and worth nearly $870 billion in current value.

“One of the most striking data point that we found was that investments in Fintech more than doubled between 2014 and 2015, from $17.8 billion to more than $38 billion,” said Baptiste Parravicini, the head of marketing at VBProfiles. “While investments in Fintech will probably remain at the 2015 level this year, it’s now happening on a global scale.”

According to the report, the main global hubs leading the Fintech revolution are California, with 219 companies, the UK (133), New York (95) and France (55).

The Fintech scene in Asia is also growing rapidly, lead by India (49) and China (31) due to their population size (2.7 billion people) and a fast rising middle class. Australia is also a fertile ground for the development of Fintech companies (24) with its friendly regulatory environment.

Insuretech attracts the most Fintech investments

VBProfiles divided its FinTech landscape into two ‘building blocks’: Infrastructure & Enabling Technologies, the umbrella category which includes crypto currencies (Coinbase, BitX, Xapo…) , blockchain (Colu, BitGo…) and security (Druva, Gemalto , OneLogin…); and ‘Use Cases’ that encompasses banking & payments (Ant Financial, Klarna, Venmo…), financing (Kiva, Prosper, Upstart…), investments (Acorns, SigFig, Yomoni…), and insurance (Lemonade, Metromile, SquareTrade…).

via www.forbes.com

Insurtech Research - Financial Technology & The Insurance Industry - Business Insider

BI Intelligence

via uk.businessinsider.com

Peer-to-Peer Personal Lines Insurer Lemonade Opens for Business in New York

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via www.insurancejournal.com

P2P insurance firm Lemonade launches out of stealth, powered by chatbots, morals, and big bucks | VentureBeat | Apps | by Paul Sawers

Above: Two kids selling lemonade at a homemade lemonade stand on a sunny day.

Image Credit: Shutterstock

Lemonade, a peer-to-peer (P2P) insurance firm that’s been in stealth for a year, has finally launched to the public in its first market.

The New York-based startup raised a chunky $13 million seed round last year, in one of lead investor Sequoia Capital’s largest ever seed investments. Lemonade has some notable people at the helm, too, including president and cofounder Shai Wininger, who also cofounded jobs marketplace Fiverr back in 2010.

Lemonade announced today that it is now a fully licensed insurance carrier in New York, which means homeowners and tenants across the state can get insured and settle claims on the spot, across multiple devices.

Above: Giveback Cause

The company’s platform is built around a number of core founding pr

via venturebeat.com

Europe's hottest startups 2016: Paris

Doctolib co-founders (l-r) Ivan Schneider, Jessy Bernal and Stanislas Niox-Chateau

Billy Clark

• Population 2.2 million
• Size 105.4km²
• Global cities index ranking 3

On April 14 this year, Emmanuel Macron, France's minister for the economy, and Axelle Lemaire, minister for the digital economy, travelled to London to launch the French Tech Hub, an entrepreneurial network to support the 450 French startups that have offices in London. "Politicians like Lemaire and Macron are genuinely interested in what goes on in the digital economy," says Yann Lechelle, COO of AI startup Snips.
 
They can't afford not to be interested: in 2015, French startups raised more than £1.38 billion, including £77 million raised by Sigfox and £137 million by BlaBlaCar. It's an indication that its tech industry no longer suffers from a dearth of global ambition. And at CES 2016, 256 companies represented France, the third-highest number of exhibitors, behind only the US and China.

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via www.wired.co.uk

The #Insurtech #VC = @AXAVentures as most active investor by @CBInsights

 

 

 

 

Happy to read this from one co-investor...

 

Smartphone Insurance Is The New Auto Insurance | Twice

It’s no secret that device dependency is here to stay. Consumers expect pretty much everything to be available via mobile device, whether it’s their preferred retailer, their bank or even their healthcare provider. Everything is optimized for mobile consumption.

This shift in expectations has positioned the mobile device as one of our most prized and vital possessions. Without our smartphones, our lives are hugely disrupted and many parts of our daily routines are inconvenienced, which makes protecting them that much more important.

With this in mind, smartphone insurance is arguably comparable to home, life or auto insurance these days: it’s a requirement. According to a recent global survey from B2X, one in three US mobile users purchase insurance for their phones, and with the increasing technological advances (and prices) for phones, that statistic will only grow.

Ericsson predicts there will be a whopping 6 billion active smartphone worldwide by 2020 with about 10 percent of them requiring repairs at some point during their digital lifecycle. That is 600 million potential device repairs that need to be executed for those connection-hungry device users. Are they all going to want to pay out of pocket for that expensive care? Probably not.

This reliance on our devices has led to an estimated 10 percent increase in the mobile phone insurance market by 2020, accounting for nearly $50 billion dollars in revenue for the insurance sector. Needless to say, this opportunity is one not to be missed by insurance providers, and they know it.

In an effort to better connect with their end users, insurance providers are listening to consumers and are no longer just accessible via a help hotline or in person. They have leaned into our mobilized way of life via comprehensive apps with a consumer’s needs all in one place. Embracing the expanding trend of self-service is crucial for insurance providers to remain competitive and relevant and, of course, keeping their mobile-savvy customers happy.

The budding relationships between insurers and OEMs, retailers and wireless carriers is growing. Mobile insurances provide new revenue streams for OEMs and carriers/retailers with larger margins. Mobile players need to build long-lasting, strong relationships with their customers by offering a seamless after-sales support process throughout the entire lifecycle of a device, including both in-warranty and out-of-warranty issues. The whole device repair process should be one fluid motion for consumers regardless of the issue or provider. Hence insurers, OEMs, retailers and carriers need to work together to create this unified experience.

It’s no surprise that millennial influence is propelling this exponential growth in mobile device insurance. Analysts estimate that consumers born between the early 1980s and early 2000s have a combined global purchasing power of over $2.45 trillion. And what are they choosing to spend that money on? Devices that make their lives easier. Interest in houses and cars is declining but mobile device purchases are only increasing and becoming further embedded in our daily lives.

Smartphones are right up there with many life necessities in several regions. The keep us connected and enable so many crucial interactions in our daily lives.

via www.twice.com

Allianz X hires new CEO

by Lucy Hook

Allianz X, the Insurtech company-building arm of Allianz, has appointed a new CEO.

Peter Borchers will join recently-established Allianz X from hub:raum/Deutsche Telekom as of October 01.

Borchers is described by Allianz as a ‘most experienced and highly respected leader in the area of corporate incubation and corporate start-up collaboration’.

Borchers has “broad experiences in digitization”, Christof Mascher, member of the management board of Allianz SE and chief operating officer of Allianz Group said, which will help Allianz X to unlock strategic growth opportunities in Insurtech and adjoining areas like blockchain, artificiaI intelligence or virtual reality, addressing topics like mobility, health and care.

Allianz and Borchers share the “same enthusiasm” about the digital potential in insurance, Solmaz Altin, chief digital officer of Allianz SE, said.

“Allianz X will open up significant growth potential for Allianz in a targeted manner and with creative freedom,” he said. “It will also have internal effects by promoting an entrepreneurial mindset.”

Altin said that the company is also aiming for so-called ‘moonshots’ – described as “ground-breaking, non-incremental innovations with the potential to significantly alter peoples’ lives” – adding that an annual investment budget in the double-digit millions (Euros) had been allotted.

via www.insurancebusinessmag.com

Venture Capital, Traditional Insurer Interest in Insurtech Remains High

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via www.insurancejournal.com

InsurTech Investors, Startups and Experts meet in Cologne for EBAN E-Xcelerator

InsurTech Investors, Startups and Experts meet in Cologne for EBAN E-Xcelerator InsurTech Investor Day

EBAN is proud to celebrate the second E-Xcelerator Investor Day event, which took place on September 15 at the Cologne office of CMS Law & Tax.
The event featured pitches from 11 promising InsurTech startups:  In4Mo, Fixico, Jamii, RightIndem, Virado, Democrance, ZenPension, Flexperto, Motion S, MotionsCloud, Ubirch. The entrepreneurs presented their startups in three separate rounds on: Processing, Operations & Claims; Distribution; and Data & AI.

Each round was preceded by a panel on relevant InsurTech topics, with the following industry experts, whom we would like to thank for their valuable contributions: Maximilian Kempken (b-to-v), Sebastian Markowsky (GP Bullhound), Charles Fraenkl (Business Angel, Gigaset), Andrei Martchouk (KI finance), Christian Czempiel-Mentrak (Liberty Mutual), David Cunningham (Lean Startup Co), Dr. Babak Ahmadi (Insurers.ai), Christian von Hammel-Bonten (Wirecard), Ravi Kurani (Earlybird), Jens Kohnen (KI Finance).

The event also featured welcome speeches from Dr. Ralf Heinen, Mayor of Cologne and Peter Jungen, President Emeritus of EBAN, keynote speeches from Florian Graillot (AXA Strategic Ventures), and Radboud Vlaar (Orange Growth Capital) and a success story testimonial from Nicolas Witte &

via www.eban.org

#VC Explained - interesting infographic from ValueWalk

9 Hot Cybersecurity Startups - Nanalyze

In a recent article we discussed the topic of cybersecurity and gave you 10 publicly traded cyber security companies you could invest in to play this theme. As with any technology niche, some of the most exciting players are often startups because they are high risk and high reward. For retail investors, it becomes very difficult to invest in startups but nonetheless you should be aware of what they are up to because those publicly traded stocks you hold might just be displaced by a nimble startup.

So how can we tell which cybersecurity startups are the hottest? The best way is to follow the money and look at what venture capital (VC) investors think is hot. One of the ways you can tell is by looking at what valuations VCs are ascribing to startups, especially those which they value at over $1 billion (otherwise known as unicorns). Let’s take a look at 9 cybersecurity unicorns, any of which just might be the next Symantec. This list of companies was derived from a real-time list of unicorns maintained by the bright minds at CB Insights (there are 176 unicorns in total at the moment). All of these companies are valued at $1 billion except for Tanium ($3.5 billion) and Okta ($1.2 billion).

 

 

Founded in 2007, Tanium has taken in just over $300 million in funding to develop an “endpoint security and management system”. In the world of cybersecurity, an “endpoint” is any device (computer, tablet, smartphone) that is connected to a corporate network. Tanium provides the only platform of its kind which offers a Google-like search that will scan millions of endpoints across your entire enterprise. You can use the platform to reactively identify security breaches or to proactively query your endpoints using natural language with results returned in less than 15 seconds. No more pesky emails from some IT guy in Mumbai asking you if you installed that security patch yet.

 

 

Founded in 2009, Okta has taken in $228 million in funding to become the leading “provider of identity” for enterprises. If you are completely old school like we are, you would probably remember Novell Directory Services (NDS) which was an ancient tool used in the past to manage access to computer resources and keep track of users on your network. That’s what Okta does except a million times better and they allow your enterprise to integrate with over 5,000 different apps using a single sign on (SSO). As you would expect, the entire thing lives up in “the cloud“.

 

 

Founded in 2000, ForeScout has taken in around $121 million to identify unknown devices as soon as they connect to a network. There is no need to install any sort of client on devices for it to see them or keep track of them. In a world where we expect to soon have billions of IoT devices connecting to our networks, the ForeScout solution takes control immediately of devices that attach to your network and keeps you in the loop at all ti

via www.nanalyze.com

Google Looks to Partner With Insurance Companies in France

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Photograph by Joel Saget — AFP/Getty Images

It’s a natural next step with businesses like Nest.

Google is looking to establish partnerships between insurance companies and some of its businesses, including Nest, which makes smart thermostats and smoke detectors, the managing director of its French division said.

But the U.S. firm was not focusing on entering the insurance market directly, Nick Leeder added.

“With some of the things we have done around Nest, we have been working with insurers in France like AXA and Allianz to develop bundles of products which blend technology and hardware with insurance,” Leeder said during a panel discussion at the reinsurance industry’s annual meeting in Monte Carlo on Tuesday.

“We’re clearer about the role that we can play and what we can add, and we are looking for partners.”

More than 40% of insurers see Google GOOG -0.37% as a potential rival and threat because of its strong brand and ability to manage customer data, a report from consultants Capgemini earlier this year found.

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But that was not where Google was directing its efforts.

via fortune.com

Google Ready for a Second Pass at Insurance? -- Insurance Networking News

Google is once again exploring the periphery of the insurance industry, according to a recent Reuters report.

The news service cites remarks from a Monte Carlo press conference this week by Nick Leeder, managing director of Google France, who said during a panel discussion that the company has "been working with insurers in France like AXA and Allianz to develop bundles of products which blend technology and hardware with insurance," according to the report.

Specifically, there are opportunities for insurers to leverage the Google-owned smart home device company Nest, Leeder said.

After closing the Google Compare auto insurance aggregator, which shut down earlier this year after only about a year of operation in the U.S., so far there is no indication that Google plans to offer insurance coverage directly. As Novarica's Matt Josefowicz said earlier this year, Google's exit from the aggregation business never meant that the company meant to abandon insurance forever. The company clearly sees synergy between its offerings and those of insurance carriers -- and Compare demonstrates its willingness to test ideas.

"They may have realized it’s a better business for them to sell supplies than take the field themselves," Josefowicz said.

via www.insurancenetworking.com

InsurTech Investors, Startups and Experts meet in Cologne for EBAN E-Xcelerator

EBAN is proud to celebrate the second E-Xcelerator Investor Day event, which took place on September 15 at the Cologne office of CMS Law & Tax.
The event featured pitches from 11 promising InsurTech startups:  In4Mo, Fixico, Jamii, RightIndem, Virado, Democrance, ZenPension, Flexperto, Motion S, MotionsCloud, Ubirch. The entrepreneurs presented their startups in three separate rounds on: Processing, Operations & Claims; Distribution; and Data & AI.

Each round was preceded by a panel on relevant InsurTech topics, with the following industry experts, whom we would like to thank for their valuable contributions: Maximilian Kempken (b-to-v), Sebastian Markowsky (GP Bullhound), Charles Fraenkl (Business Angel, Gigaset), Andrei Martchouk (KI finance), Christian Czempiel-Mentrak (Liberty Mutual), David Cunningham (Lean Startup Co), Dr. Babak Ahmadi (Insurers.ai), Christian von Hammel-Bonten (Wirecard), Ravi Kurani (Earlybird), Jens Kohnen (KI Finance).

The event also featured welcome speeches from Dr. Ralf Heinen, Mayor of Cologne and Peter Jungen, President Emeritus of EBAN, keynote speeches from Florian Graillot (AXA Strategic Ventures), and Radboud Vlaar (Orange Growth Capital) and a success story testimonial from Nicolas Witte & Andreas Witte (Control Expert). Throughout the entire day there were also many occasions for networking and one-on-one meetings.

EBAN would like to thank our sponsors: City of Cologne, Coparion, InsurTech VC, KI Finance, CMS; and our partners:

via www.eban.org

Growth stage funding picks up in Europe | VentureBeat | Entrepreneur | by Tony Zappalà, Highland Europe

Image Credit: Anton Balazh / Shutterstock

Growth stage or growth equity tech investing is on the rise in Europe. According to Invest Europe, growth investments rose 11% year-on-year in 2015 to reach €6.5 billion ($7.3 billion), reflecting the increasing number of European companies leaving their startup years behind them to embark on the next stage of their life cycle. But unlike in the US, where — due to the maturity of the ecosystem — growth stage is seen as a key investment category in its own right, in Europe it is still widely considered a mere branch of venture capital, with little to distinguish it from Series A or B.

Part of the reason these categories are often confused in Europe is that historically, there have been far fewer growth investors here than in the US, while a large proportion of the growth investment that has been available on this side of the Atlantic has come from American funds, who saw the European opportunity but logistically could only cover the most visible of startups.

The other main reason for category confusion is that the funds that are active in Europe tend to define growth stage businesses slightly differently. Each firm will have its own particular benchmarks. But in general, a growth stage company has a number of clear markers. Typically, it has a product in the marketplace, which customers are starting to use and like. In all probability the product has yet to be perfected and the company may not be making much, if any, profit — but it will have decided on a business model and have demonstrably growing revenues.

Such companies will usually be on the brink of breaking through to the next level, in scaling terms, and while they may already be selling into one or two countries, they will need to expand rapidly into many more. Similarly, their headcount will be growing inexorably, from perhaps 30 to a few hundred people and rising, meaning that they need to put in new systems, covering everything from IT to HR.

While of course there’s a degree of overlap between growth equity and VC investing, there are fundamental differences too. As a rule, VCs invest from far earlier in the cycle, often focusing on companies that don’t yet have customers, or even a business model. Indeed, VC investing is a lot more about th

via venturebeat.com

13 Emerging Techs: How Insurers Are Progressing | Insurance Networking News

There are several different ways to categorize the emerging technologies that are impacting the insurance industry, according to SMA partner Mark Breading. His Emerging Tech in P&C Insurance: 2016 & Beyond report, discussed technologies from the physical realm, like drones and the Internet of Things, and the virtual realm, like artificial intelligence and blockchain, and evaluates how insurers are doing in incorporating them into their businesses.

"Although new opportunities and new value propositions often involve the combination of multiple technologies, it is still instructive to assess the technologies individually to understand which are likely to contribute most to industry transformation, where insurers are already actively engaged, and what insurer investment plans are for the future," Breading explains.

1. Internet of Things -- Power Player

Power players are technologies that have been on the radar for a couple years now, and more than 50% of the respondents to SMA's survey indicating investmentsin production or plans to leverage them. Chief among these is the Internet of Things, which Breading expects to be fully embraced by commercial lines insurers first. That's because personal lines insurers will depend on consumer adoption to fully leverage the technology, while commercial lines companies have more leeway to assign devices to customers.

2. Drones/aerial imagery -- Power Player

Six percent of insurers are already using drones, including Erie Insurance, Allstate, and USAA, mostly to help expedite the claims process. SMA predicts that "virtually every P&C insurer" will be using drones within five years.

3. Autonomous/driverless vehicles -- Power Player

Within the decade, the emergence of driverless cars will shake up insurance, Breading writes. As with the IoT, commercial insurers are likely to be impacted by the shift first, since public transportation and commmercial fleets will turn over faster.

via www.insurancenetworking.com